Broadband internet service such as digital subscriber line (“DSL”) service, cable broadband service and fiber-to-the-home service have become popular for residential internet service due to their high data rates. Due to this increasing popularity of residential broadband internet service, it has become more important to develop ways to quickly and efficiently determine the source of an interruption in broadband service. When there is an interruption in broadband service, the broadband modem may lose sync with network equipment of a broadband service provider and it is typically no longer possible to exchange data or coordinate tests between network equipment of the broadband service provider and the broadband modem of a broadband customer.
When an interruption in broadband service occurs, the service provider usually can accurately ascertain the cause of service interruption by measuring loss, noise and impedance at both the service provider side and the customer side. However, due to the fact it is no longer possible to exchange data or coordinate tests between the broadband service provider and the broadband modem of the customer, a technician will normally be dispatched to the customer side to perform so called “double-ended” tests. To save cost and labor, some service providers also troubleshoot broadband service by performing a single-ended metallic loop test at the service provider side, however, such tests are conducted in very low frequency bands and they rarely reveal the cause of the service disruption.
Performing measurements and tests at both the broadband service provider side and the broadband customer side is one reliable way to determine a source of an interruption in broadband service. However, it is also costly and inefficient to send a technician to many broadband service customers in response to interruptions in broadband service. Thus, it is desirable to provide an apparatus and method that can automatically determine the source of an interruption in broadband service without human operation by a technician.